Divided opinions on North Beach piazza proposal at City Hall meeting

A rendering of the “Piazza St. Francis, the Poet's Plaza” that former Supervisor Angela Alioto has proposed for a block of Vallejo Street off Columbus Avenue.

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A decadelong and deeply controversial plan to erect an open-air piazza in North Beach was back in the spotlight Tuesday at an informational hearing before the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors that drew scores of city residents with an opinion on the proposal.

The divisive project, spearheaded by San Francisco attorney and former Supervisor Angela Alioto, seeks to shut down a block of Vallejo Street between Columbus and Grant avenues and convert it into open space inspired by the piazzas of Florence and Umbria.

Dubbing it the “Piazza Saint Francis, the Poets Plaza,” Alioto and her supporters have long envisioned creating a public gathering spot framed by the historic National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi. It would include olive trees, benches and quotes from famous poets and inspirational historical figures inscribed on inlays in the ground.

Despite endorsements from a number of prominent supporters, including Mayor Ed Lee and former mayor and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the piazza has become an acrimonious wedge issue in North Beach.

Over the past two years, there has been growing opposition to the project because of concerns about closing off a busy public street in a densely packed neighborhood for a privately funded project.

At the SFMTA board meeting, the divisiveness was on full display. Waves of city residents and business owners packed a City Hall hearing room, with dozens more into an overflow room.

Some sported green arm bands proclaiming their support for Alioto and the piazza. Others waved fliers distributed by SOS Vallejo, a community organization that opposes the proposal.

“There are not enough public spaces in America ... but I can’t support this one,” said Mark Bittner, a resident of North Beach for 44 years who is locally famous as the former caretaker of the Telegraph Hill parrot flock. “I don’t think you should be able to give personal space to further someone’s personal agenda.”

Cynthia Birmingham, the founder of SOS Vallejo, and others opposed to the piazza contend that closing off Vallejo between Grant and Columbus would eliminate a crucial staging area for trucks making deliveries to nearby businesses.

But among those who spoke in support of the piazza was Fabio Giotta, son of the late Giovanni “Papa” Giotta, who founded the iconic Caffe Trieste, which would face the piazza.

“My father and I have publicly supported the Poets Plaza for over 10 years,” Giotta said. “We need to build it now for the city of San Francisco and all of its visitors.”

For Alioto, the project represents an at-times-quixotic quest to resurrect the “joie de vivre” that North Beach used to convey, she said, when she strolled its streets as a young girl.

“We want to open it all up, so everybody can have access to the whole area without it being totally congested, like it is,” Alioto said. “This will be a total rebirth for the amazing district it was when I was a kid. North Beach is a congested mess. It’s a disaster. It’s so dirty, and there are so many vacancies,” she said.

Alioto said the piazza would be “100 percent privately funded,” at a cost she estimated at about $3.8 million.

The SFMTA has not taken an official position on the piazza and it’s unclear if the board, which has the authority to close the street, will vote on the idea.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco, which owns the shrine, said in a Sept. 18 letter to the board that its officials remain “neutral as to the general concept of creation of the piazza,” so long as the archdiocese can maintain “full use of and access to its property.”